UN: Since 2015 12,000 Crimeans have been conscripted to the Russian army

Friday, September 14, 2018 10:00:15 AM

Since 2015, Russia has called into its Armed Forces approximately 12 thousand people, living in the annexed Crimea, said the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine Fiona Frazer while presenting the second report of the Mission on the human rights situation in the Crimea.

According to Frazer, Russia also prosecutes Crimeans who do not want to serve in the Russian army. As stated in the report, the draft campaign is becoming more aggressive: in 2015, 500 men were called up, and this spring already 2,800 people. At least 9 have been convicted for evading the conscription.

Kyiv demands that Russia stop conscripting the residents of the annexed Crimea to its armed forces. The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office for the Crimea urged Cremeans to contact them by phone or e-mail if they receive enlistment pamphlets for service in the Russian army.

According to the Kremlin-controlled Crimean government, in 2018, the Russian army intend to conscript more than two thousand Crimeans.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that in 2017, at least 4,800 Crimean residents were called up to military service in the armed forces of Russia.